


in the woods somewhere

by geniewish



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fae & Fairies, Falling In Love, Flower Crowns, Magic, Multi, Polyamory, changkyun aka medieval stand up comedian, fairy ish hyungwon, horny hyungwon but wait! its a pun, long curly haired hyungwon!!!!, maleficent inspired, one of them is awkward, prince minhyuk, shapeshifter changkyun, the other one is mostly naked, the third one just laughs all the time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:35:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22600336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geniewish/pseuds/geniewish
Summary: the five times minhyuk stumbles into the enchanted forest to fall in love, and the one time he brings his loved one(s) back to the kingdom for a little happily ever after moment.or ao3 user geniewish can't decide which one of them is aurora so they are all auroras in their own ways.
Relationships: Chae Hyungwon/Im Changkyun | I.M, Chae Hyungwon/Im Changkyun | I.M/Lee Minhyuk, Chae Hyungwon/Lee Minhyuk, Im Changkyun | I.M/Lee Minhyuk
Comments: 10
Kudos: 61





	1. Your Highness

**Author's Note:**

> so i've actually for once written most of the fic beforehand so i'll post the next few chaps quickly and from then, lets hope for the best. this is a new format i'm trying out where all chapters are fairly short so! this should be easy to read
> 
> i've broken my explicit spree, here is some exclusive fluff and magical boyes
> 
> also like, this is maleficent inspired but is hyungwon maleficent or aurora? stay tuned to find out. (he is both and neither)
> 
> hope you enjoy!!

It all began something like this.

Once upon a time, two kingdoms ruled over a distant land. One kingdom belonged to people, and the other kingdom was populated with mystical creatures. The two kings were on friendly terms and frequently welcomed the habitats of the other kingdom at their gates. They had trade and they benefited from each other’s resources – the human king would supply building materials and provide protection, and the fae king would help with vegetation and beauty in the human kingdom.

The only rule, however, that they had to follow was that humans and fae folk could not be together and get married. That was strictly prohibited. But one day, the faerie queen met a man from the other kingdom in the Enchanted Forest. They fell in love and soon had a child, which was considered the biggest treason to either of the nation. When a baby boy was born, the two kings found out about it and were very angry. The human king forever closed the gates for the faeries and ordered to execute the betrayer.

But the incident had a much worse impact on the fae kingdom. The king wanted to kill the child, but the queen, in order to protect her son, promised to curse everyone who dared hurt him, and hid him in the Enchanted Forest. The spell, however, only protected her son, and she was soon killed on the king’s order. Before the queen died, she enchanted a little moth and sent it to the forest to keep her son safe.

Her curse came true. Everyone who even thought about killing the boy was turned into an animal, including the king, who was conjured into an old goat and died. The fae kingdom existed no more, and those who remained sworn to protect the Enchanted Forest for the time being, until the faerie prince was strong enough to let it rise again.

***

“No, pup, don’t do it,” Hyungwon softly scolds and giggles, trying to hide from another playful lick on his face. He grabs the wolf by the fur on the sides of his neck and gently pulls him away, but Changkyun is insistent, and so he surges forward and licks his face again, and again, until Hyungwon yelps and brings his hands to his eyes.

“Stop,” he moans, albeit smiling immediately when Changkyun’s wet nose pokes at his palm. “What happened to you today, you’re scarily excited.”

Changkyun doesn’t listen and instead nuzzles into Hyungwon’s neck, rubbing on him as if to cover up the floral scent that’s eternally misting the boy’s skin. Hyungwon snivels, the realisation that there is no way to escape the wolf’s affection dawning on him. “Pup, stop,” he flinches, pulls away and wraps his hands around the snout. And although he can’t exactly express it in the same way a human can, Changkyun frowns, pushing through the grip on his muzzle to make Hyungwon back off.

“No,” the boy says and frowns too, although his expression of disapproval is soft, and his lips bulge in a little pout. “If I don’t finish sorting this out, I will get in trouble. If I get in trouble, you know who else will get in trouble?” Changkyun tilts his head to the side, pretending he genuinely doesn’t know. “You,” Hyungwon nods at him and offers a tiny-tiny smile. The wolf visibly slumps, his tail stops swinging and presses against his hind. Hyungwon pecks him on the tip of the nose and lets go. “We’ll play later, I promise.”

Changkyun’s growl resounds deep in his chest, but this simply translates into a sorrowful sigh a child would make when he is denied the sweets he’s been craving the whole day. The wolf lies on his stomach, big grey head on his front legs, and mewls sadly. Hyungwon chuckles quietly and pats on his head. “Now, now, don’t mope around, that’s my job to do.”

Upon calming down the overexcited creature, Hyungwon turns back to a big pile of flowers scattered on the grass before him. He sighs too, glancing at a pitiful lump of colourful flower crowns resting on the side. Just a hundred more, and he can rest.

Through the green boughs tangling over his head, the sun comes through in patches. The sparkling sun rays fall on the little clearing like veils, and where they shine, the mellow grass turns golden and wakes up, reaches for the source of light in a slow dance. The trees weave a protective dome over Hyungwon’s figure, surrounding him in foggy olive and basil green.

He carefully folds pink and yellow buds together, binds their stems in a way that would fit a new flower in between. When he is done, he moulds the floral braid into a halo and ties the endings, fixing it into a round shape. That’s another crown done.

A dainty blue butterfly comes to sit on Changkyun’s nose. It flutters its wings a couple of times before the wolf notices, and when he does, he sneezes, chasing the butterfly away. It flitters around Hyungwon and then settles on a little rose twined in his long curls. Seeing Changkyun suddenly so grumpy makes Hyungwon smile fondly, familiar with the other’s occasional moody outbursts.

“Pup,” Hyungwon softly calls after he finishes another flower crown. Changkyun raises his heavy head, golden eyes gazing at Hyungwon with feigned indifference. Hyungwon puts the crown on the wolf’s head. “Now we are the same.”

Changkyun’s tail immediately starts swaying, ruffling the grass underneath, and he tries to look up at the top of his head by bouncing up and down. Hyungwon laughs, endeared by the creature’s amusing antics. He tickles him under his chin. “Pretty pup.” The wolf seems satisfied with the statement and lies down again, closing his eyes.

A bird chirps from a branch above, and Hyungwon raises his head to greet the already familiar robin. He smiles and beckons him with his finger. The bird exclaims cheerfully, and, in a blink, it sits on Hyungwon’s shoulder, curiously twitching its head to see what the boy has got for him this time. Hyungwon extends a delicate rosy tulip.

“Here, a flower for your pretty nest.” The robin chirps and catches the stem with its tiny beak. Hyungwon’s curls flutter slightly as the bird unfurls its wings and prepares to take off. It flies into the sky and disappears in the canvas of branches. Hyungwon returns to work with a gentle smile on his face.

Suddenly, there is a rustle in the distance. Hyungwon softly gasps in surprise, and Changkyun flinches awake, his ears moving. After a moment of silence, the trees rustle again, and the sound scarily moves closer and closer. Changkyun prepares to jump on his feet, a threatening growl settles in his throat, but Hyungwon embraces him around the neck and keeps him still, strokes his head with the tips of his fingers. They both look ahead, into the tall green bushes where the leaves start trembling and yet another dry branch cracks on the ground.

The wolf growls quietly, reverberating under Hyungwon’s palms, and the boy brings himself closer to the warm animal body, inconspicuously, as to not give away how his heart clenches in timid fright. Unexpected noises in the Enchanted Forest are rarely good news.

Just when Hyungwon’s fingers tighten in the grey fur on the creature’s neck, a figure tumbles out of the woods. Hyungwon inhales sharply in shock, recognising a human attire, and then frowns, utterly confused. The figure – the man – spins around as if he fell out the bushes from the wrong side and awkwardly shifts on one place, holding onto his wide-brimmed hat. Only then does he notice the boy and the wolf on the ground. He freezes and stares, doesn’t seem to breathe, doesn’t seem to perceive anything around him at all, only his widened eyes bore a hole in Hyungwon’s forehead.

He visibly swallows. “Uh,” he rasps out and brings his gloved hands to his front, fiddling with his fingers.

Hyungwon is still frowning as he looks over the stranger. Tall boots and brown breeches with golden embroidery on the sides, a blouse hidden under a hard leather coat with ornaments leading up its puffy sleeves, and a cloak attached to the collar, the inside of it inflating with golden glow. A sword scabbard is attached to his belt. The man is out of the ordinary kind, Hyungwon deduces, his clothes are expensive, royal, as if he is––

“I am very sorry for the intrusion,” the stranger says in a boyish voice, the sound airy and small. He puts one hand on his stomach and bows his head, movements filled with nervousness. “I am the prince, fr-from the Kingdom? I must have lost my way, I was looking for the fairy godmother?” The stranger, seeing Hyungwon’s blank stare, swallows again. His jumpy eyes scream on the border of anxiety. “I need, uh, the remedy for the king, he is a little ill, got the sneezlings… Could you please tell me where to go?” His voice cracks at the end, his hands ball into fists. 

After a moment of silence, Hyungwon squints. “Are you,” he starts, and the stranger flinches at the sound of his voice, almost as if he didn’t expect a habitant of the Forest to speak his language, “Prince Minhyuk, by any chance?”

The boy nods fervently, and his eyes light up with a glimmer of hope. They are pretty, his eyes, sharp but kind, and he blinks slowly, with effort. He is sporting an unconscious pout on his lips.

So this is Prince Minhyuk. He is young, still a boy like Hyungwon, and he does not look like the mighty warrior, whispers of whom frequently floated around the Forest. If anything, the sword seems just a little too heavy hanging off his belt.

“A prince has never strayed into our land before,” Hyungwon says pensively and strokes down the wolf’s head. Before the very poor Prince Minhyuk can reply, Changkyun stands up, rises like the great grey wolf he is, and the prince turns pale.

With every slow step forward Changkyun takes, Minhyuk grows whiter and whiter, sweat glistens on his forehead, his gloved fingers start trembling, but he stands still and raises his chin, for he is not a coward and isn’t afraid of some big and scary wolf. The long fluffy tail swings behind him like a pendulum clock, counting down the prince’s last moments.

The wolf is just a foot away, standing half of Minhyuk’s height. His yellow eyes narrow. Then suddenly, the wolf disappears – as if melts into the earth, like water thrown out of a bucket. A blink, and something unimaginable happens. In his stead, a human rises from the ground in one smooth concoction. Rises and stands in front of Minhyuk. Naked. 

A beat of silence and a moment of intense eye contact. 

Changkyun squints. “Yes, he is the real prince,” he affirms with a nod and turns around to deliver the good news to Hyungwon.

_Thud._

Changkyun abruptly spins back around. Prince Minhyuk fainted.

When Prince Minhyuk wakes up, he doesn’t immediately remember the events that have occurred earlier. It’s still bright outside, the sun shines through the weave of thick green branches above him and falls onto the mellow grass, dances on the lazure water by his side and caresses frail leaves of a weeping willow, tangles in black curly locks and luscious roses twined in them––huh?

Minhyuk’s eyes snap fully open, and he barely withholds a gasp as he takes in a face hovering over him. A very beautiful face, but he tenses nonetheless, feeling slightly off in the area of his stomach. Something… alive is pushing down on him, something that breathes and has a heartbeat and – and hisses. 

Minhyuk slowly tugs his chin down to see what’s crawling up his lying body and comes face to face with––

His heart drops to his feet.

––a snake. 

Amber eyes like molten lava stare at him with thin black slits, unblinking. Split tongue darts out of its curvy mouth as if with the intention to taste him, and it slithers closer, slowly, threateningly, his own yellow death. Minhyuk feels his consciousness starting to slip away again. 

“Hey,” Hyungwon exclaims softly, as to not shock the poor prince any more. “Please don’t be afraid, he won’t hurt you.” His tentative hands float in front of Minhyuk’s eyes. Pleasant human hands. They calm him down a little bit.

“He?” the prince wheezes. He is breathless, too terrified to even inhale, as if the snake on his stomach will open its big poisonous mouth and pierce him with its two sharp fangs, and then he will die a torturous death. 

“He,” the boy confirms. He looks a bit distressed, a delicate frown lies between his eyebrows. “It’s my wolf.”

Minhyuk forgets all about the snake on his stomach. “That’s your wolf.”

Hyungwon nods. “Yes.”

“It’s a snake,” Minhyuk says with absurd certainty, pushing down on the obvious.

“He can change his appearance.”

“What does he do that for?” Minhyuk frowns too, all his common sense forgotten on the border between the Kingdom and the Enchanted Forest.

Hyungwon, just like the snake, doesn’t blink. “He just does. He is magical.”

As if to confirm the statement, the snake slides off Minhyuk’s stomach, twirls around itself, folding its long-long body into a round pile, and morphs into a human being. Changkyun, still undressed, sits by Hyungwon’s side like a monkey, spine curled and one leg brought to his chest, and stares at Minhyuk like a cat, unblinking. Minhyuk feels lightheaded again.

“Please don’t faint!” Hyungwon exclaims a little louder this time and brings his hands to the back of the prince’s head.

“I’m,” Minhyuk inhales and tries to sit up, “fine,” he finishes with a grunt. Both Hyungwon and Changkyun shuffle away. They gawk at him like owls in the night.

When Minhyuk sits a little more comfortably, the two forest creatures straighten, both knees on the ground, and bow. “Your Highness,” Hyungwon says and offers a polite smile. Changkyun is still naked. 

Minhyuk nods at them, albeit nervously and not quite like royalty. “Uhm… what is your name?” he asks, primarily referring to Hyungwon. Changkyun frowns in offence and juts out his bottom lip.

“I am Hyungwon. This is Changkyun,” Hyungwon brings one hand to the back of the other boy’s head. “Please don’t be afraid of him, Your Highness, he is a good boy.”

Minhyuk blinks, nods again. He seems to be purposefully avoiding looking at Changkyun. “Nice… to meet you.” Then he seems to remember that he is a prince, and not just any prince, but Prince Minhyuk, the stuff of legends. The child of such ethereal beauty it was as if he was born in a water lily and fed pixie dust as a baby. 

He awkwardly stands up and tries to straighten his clothing. Hyungwon and Changkyun peer at him with the same puppy confusion. “So… would you be kind enough to show me to the fairy godmother?” he asks, voice a little high-pitched, still laced with nerves, but he clears his throat and nods in affirmation of his words. 

Hyungwon smiles softly, and something in Minhyuk hitches. “Of course, Your Highness.” He gets to his feet as well. The prince subtly looks over his long figure; he is clad in white linen, his feet are bare, and there are flowers weaved into his pretty curls. Minhyuk resists a hmph – the forest creature is a little taller than him. 

“Right! Let’s go,” Minhyuk exclaims and casts a quick glance at a still sitting Changkyun. He bows his head, hand on his hat, but then realises he’s got no hat on his head. “Where’s my hat?” He asks, a little panicky. 

“Ah,” Hyungwon smiles again and walks to the nearest trees. What he fishes out from under the low-lying bushes is a wide-brimmed hat, definitely royal, but not quite Minhyuk’s. There are flowers everywhere, pink and red roses covering the crown of it and lacing the brim to an unrecognisable extent. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, I was bored waiting for you to wake up and got a little carried away.” There is amusement in Hyungwon’s voice, brave amusement, that kind of amusement that would be considered mannerless in the Kingdom if an outsider dared messing around with royal property. 

The flowers are so pretty and radiant they cast a gentle pink glow on Hyungwon’s face.

Minhyuk shakes the stupid compliments out of his head and clears his throat, remembers he is a prince and extends his hand in a manner that would seem rather cocky if it wasn’t for the slight tremble in his arm and a nervous blink. “Give it to me, please.” He raises his chin. 

Hyungwon smiles and places the hat into the prince’s hand. “Of course, Your Highness.”

Deeming it too heavy and, frankly, ridiculous, Minhyuk doesn’t put the hat on his head and instead resorts to carrying it in his arms. Changkyun is staring up at him with some sort of pity in his eyes, as if the prince is a fool and not a prince at all but some incompetent imposter. Granted, he is not. 

“Well, shall we go?” Minhyuk asks Hyungwon and straightens even further like a scallion. 

Hyungwon’s eyes are warm when he smiles. “Of course, Your Highness. It’s this way.”

And off Minhyuk and Hyungwon go, disappearing in the endless woods.

After several minutes of silent wandering across the Enchanted Forest, Hyungwon decides to break it. “If you don’t mind me asking, Prince Minhyuk, why did you come looking for the fairy godmother yourself, and not your servants who I am already used to seeing?”

“Ah, well,” Minhyuk starts, swallowing again. “Everyone is on holiday today, it’s the Summer Solstice, we throw a big celebration in the Kingdom where everyone parties and indulges in pleasant activities from morning to morning, including our servants. But dad’s got the sneezelings, and I told him! – I told him to get the remedy earlier, I told him, dad, you are becoming unwell, send the servants to the Forest, but he denied it, moaned ‘no-o-o-o-o, I am well, I am healthy, so healthy I could eat a horse’, and look at him now – sneezing after every breath he takes.” Minhyuk puffs a breath after he finishes his little speech. His nervousness seemed to dissipate the longer he spoke, and he accompanied every sentence with a funny expression to bring the story to life. 

Hyungwon smiles. “I’m sending my best wishes to the king. I hope His Majesty wouldn’t mind a slight delay in the flower delivery, since I took on the courteous role to accompany his son to the godmother.” Perhaps Hyungwon is being cheeky, subtly asking for an extension for his unpaid job for the king, but when Minhyuk turns to look at him, there is surprise and a hint of admiration in his eyes. 

“So you are the one who weaves those flower crowns for every celebration?” he asks, shocked. 

“Of course, Your Highness.”

Minhyuk suddenly smiles at him, showing his pearly white teeth and faint wrinkles in the corners of his eyes. He has a beautiful smile, wide, sincere. A person like him can never look insincere when smiling, Hyungwon concludes. “Please, call me Minhyuk. Or simply prince, so I don’t forget who I am.”

Hyungwon’s heart swells with yet inexplicable warmth at the prince’s light joke. “If you say so, Prince Minhyuk.”

Minhyuk’s lips flatten into another smile, a little shyer this time, and tiny-tiny dots of dimples appear in the corners. His eyes sparkle. He looks ahead again, awkward, embarrassed, but in an endearing way, like he simply doesn’t know what else to say. 

He rubs his hands together. “So… how long to the fairy godmother?”

“Not long. She lives separately from the rest of the faes, just on the edge of the village.”

“Where do you live?”

Hyungwon sways his hand around the surrounding woods. “Here, and everywhere. Enchanted Forest is my home, this is where I was born, I know every leaf and every creature in the land. I protect them, and they protect me. Ah, sorry, you probably don’t want to hear so much about me,” Hyungwon breathes out a little smile.

Minhyuk’s eyes immediately grow wide. “No, no, I do! Please continue.” There is genuine apology in the way he looks, as if he wants to apologise to Hyungwon for making him think he wouldn’t be interested in his backstory.

“Well, there is not much else to say. The fae kingdom stopped existing after I was born, so we made the Forest our new home.”

A spark of confusion ignites in Minhyuk’s head. He looks up, trying to connect Hyungwon’s words with the tales in the books he read, and then something clicks. 

“Aren’t you the faerie pri––”

“We are here, Prince Minhyuk,” Hyungwon announces cheerfully, and, indeed, before them stands a little cottage, not unlike those in Minhyuk’s kingdom but slightly more magical. The walls are coloured pink, and there are thick bushes of roses blooming all around it, and strong vines climb all the way to the wooden roof.

Hyungwon knocks on the door, hears a cheerful ‘Come in!’ and enters, holding the door open for the prince. It’s cozy inside, wooden, decorated with flowers all around, and Minhyuk gapes like he’s never seen a commoner’s house before. 

“Mother, a prince from the Kingdom came to pick up a remedy for the king,” Hyungwon calls into the empty room. Minhyuk raises his eyebrows at him. “She practically raised me,” Hyungwon explains. 

“Hyungwon!” a cheerful voice calls from somewhere deep within the small house. And then a fairy flies in. She looks like an elderly woman, grey hair and a light dress and wrinkles around her eyes, but she is small, half the size of the boys, and she has transparent, sparkling wings behind her fluttering in the air like a butterfly.

Hyungwon bends down to hug her, smiling. “Mother dear, it’s good to see you.”

“Eh, you grew again! Sprang like a tulip, what have you been eating?” she laughs and then turns to gawk at the prince. “His Highness himself granted me a visit!” She bows, wings continuously fluttering behind her. Light that seeps through the window shimmers through them like a rainbow. 

Minhyuk bows too, more like a royalty and less nervous than before. “Pleasure to meet you, fairy godmother.”

“They didn’t lie about your beauty, words don’t do you justice, Your Highness.” Minhyuk blushes at the words and rubs the back of his head, flattered. The woman stares at him with genuine fascination.

“Mother, the remedy,” Hyungwon gently reminds her, bringing the faerie out of her stupor. 

“Of course, of course!” She is gone in a second, flying back into the depth of her house. Something clinks and thuds and smashes, and then she reappears with a little vial in tiny hands. “Hope His Majesty feels better soon.”

Minhyuk accepts the remedy and hides it in his pocket. “Thank you so much, fairy godmother.”

The woman smiles happily, fluttering not only her wings but her whole body too. “Some tea for you boys? Nectar? Floral water? Alcohol?”

Hyungwon laughs. “No, mother, the prince has to go back to the Kingdom before the start of the celebration.”

She hugs them both goodbye, and even after they leave the house they can still hear her muttering excitedly about the prince’s beauty.

They get back to where they started, to the little clearing where Hyungwon loves to weave flowers crowns and play around with Changkyun. Speaking of the creature, he is rolling in the grass on his back, tummy turned to the sun and paws bend in front of him, tongue out. And he is a wolf. Again.

“Kkung, Kkung,” Hyungwon slaps his thighs, and Changkyun jerks awake, scrambles on his feet and runs towards Hyungwon like an excited puppy, panting. Minhyuk flinches back, but when the wolf reaches them, he seems smaller, cuter, softer, like a wolf-looking dog and not the most dangerous animal in the Forest. Hyungwon pets his head and rubs his cheeks with vigour, and the creature melts, slumps on his butt and sticks his tongue out in dopey pleasure. 

“See, he is a good boy,” Hyungwon says turning to the prince and smiles. Minhyuk has no choice but to sign in resignation and believe him.

They walk to the bushes from which the prince stumbled out earlier.

“I wish you a safe journey back, Prince Minhyuk,” Hyungwon says with a bow of his head.

“You won’t come with me?” Minhyuk asks with perhaps too much disappointment in his voice for royalty like himself. 

Hyungwon smiles. “I need to finish weaving and deliver the crowns before fireworks.”

Minhyuk finds that he doesn’t quite want to leave. “I can… help? If you want? I have skilful hands.” His eyes are big and glistening with hope, and as much as Hyungwon would like to say yes, they both have duties to do.

“I’m sure you do, Prince Minhyuk, but the king needs you more than I do right now. But,” he pauses, and Minhyuk’s breath hitches, “next time, surely.”

The prince smiles at the words, smiles wide and sunny. He guesses, if the creature of the Enchanted Forest has said so, then there should be next time. Whenever that time is.

“Of course,” Minhyuk replies with perhaps too much joy and then remembers that he is royalty and should behave like one. He clears his throat and straightens. “Thank you for your help, Hyungwon.” Changkyun grunts from somewhere in the grass. “And you, Changkyun,” Minhyuk adds hesitantly. Changkyun purrs in satisfaction.

“Hope to see you soon, Prince Minhyuk,” Hyungwon says, and like that they finish bidding their farewells.


	2. The Forest Creature

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well this and the next chap are rather short and dont carry much meaning but??? some sappiness i guess!! and peasantry flirtations blushy wide eyed emoji

It’s sunny and warm when Minhyuk strays into the Enchanted Forest again. Sun reflects off the green around him, birds cheerfully sing above his head, friendly leaves tickle his cheeks as he stumbles through the surrounding trees. The air smells floral and sugary, like honey and roses and resin too. 

He can’t exactly say he has a noble reason to be on someone else’s territory, but he firmly believes that if he juts his lips just a little bit forward and widens his pretty glassy eyes, no one will even think about kicking him out. The forest creatures he met the other day were friendly. Scary, but friendly. Pretty. And so, inspired, he marches through the woods following his own traces.

Soon enough, he falls out of the bushes onto the little grassy clearing. 

What greets him is a big, fluffy lynx, and it turns to look at him as soon as the branches crack under his feet. 

The same feeling of crippling fear starts settling in Minhyuk’s veins. He feels lightheaded, his heart drops, the tips of his fingers turn icy, but then he remembers – magic. This is not a real lynx – well, it is, it is a real lynx, but it won’t hurt him. In fact, _he_ won’t hurt him. 

And surely, the lynx, seeing the prince’s stunned form, whirls around himself and there in the grass sits a human boy. Naked, again.

Sharp black eyes widen at him in puppy surprise. “Prince Minhyuk?” Minhyuk does a double take at the sound of his voice, deep, warm, very human. He didn’t manage to process it the last time the boy spoke as he was busy fainting, but today he sees an opportunity to get familiar with the peculiar forest creature and, maybe, confirm that he is indeed a good boy, like Hyungwon said.

Speaking of the boy. “Good day,” Minhyuk says with a greeting nod. He is getting nervous again. “I’m looking for Hyungwon? Uh,” he takes a heavy old book out of his bag and holds it close to his chest. Changkyun cocks his head to the side. “I was wondering if he could help me read and understand this? It’s on herbal medicine, I figured, since you live in the Forest, and this is primarily where we get most of our ingredients, I assumed he knew? Uh,” Minhyuk’s fingers clench around the thick cover of the book.

But then Changkyun smiles, and his smile is as warm as Minhyuk remembers Hyungwon’s smile to be. There are dips of little dimples on his cheeks. “Hyungwon’s away, he’s collecting flowers in the field,” before Minhyuk can slump in sadness and leave regretfully, Changkyun springs up, “But I can help you. I know a lot,” he accompanies his words with another smile.

Minhyuk thinks there is nothing to lose and inhales with lungful of inspiration, a glimmer of hope sparkling in his eyes. “Thank you!” He approaches Changkyun and comes back down to earth. “Could you…”

Changkyun blinks at him like a confused kitten and then looks down. “Oh,” he then giggles and snaps his fingers. Thin linen breeches materialise on his legs with a whoosh. Minhyuk breathes out with relief. “I can teach you to do the same if you want.”

The prince crinkles his nose in a polite smile. “It’s fine,” he takes off his embroidered coat and lays it on the grass, plopping on it. His hair bounces with every movement. “I’ve got servants to dress me.”

Changkyun’s lips spread in a mellow smile, curvy like that of a snake. It may look polite at first glance, but Minhyuk thinks there is something sneaky hiding behind it.

They open the first page.

Birds are chirping a cheerful tune, the sun casts sparkly rays that cover the greenery in gold, tiny pixies hide and drink nectar in plush bushes of peonies, timid gremlins craft knives and arrows in their tree grottos, somewhere in the field unicorns help the zealous fairies drag bouquet-filled carriages, and yet the real magic to Minhyuk manifests in the soothing low voice with which Changkyun reads him about herbs that the prince didn’t even know existed.

“So, the hemlock is poisonous through and through. It is used exclusively for poison, we terminate it with special dust that makes it wither fast as we don’t want the birds to die, were they to eat it by accident. This is henbane, it is pretty but don’t get fooled! The medicine may help you tummy get rid of a particularly chunky piece of meat, but don’t try to make the cure on your own. Same thing with wolfsbane – better to avoid anything with ‘bane’ in it, is my advice to you,” Changkyun chuckles, “we use the roots to treat wounds but it must be done carefully, don’t eat it and don’t smell it no matter how pretty it looks.”

“The poisonous section is a tough one to get through,” Minhyuk pouts. “What’s the point in a flower being pretty if you can’t even smell it.”

“The laws of nature,” Changkyun shrugs. “Lots of things in the world are pretty but hide something dark underneath the surface. Perhaps, it’s a curse that helps them survive. Think about it that way – when you were born, fairies came to wish you lots of nice things during christening. Beauty, wit, the gift of music and the blessing of love, but they also wished for you to be strong and to carry a sword with pride. You are beautiful and seemingly harmless, it may attract unwanted evil, which is why you had to learn from an early age how to protect yourself. Flowers do the same. Why do you think roses have thorns? So no curious hands can ever rip them from the ground without a fine.” He sighs. “Well, not all of them have thorns or poison to protect them, which is why we still weave flower crowns for the celebrations in the Kingdom out of tulips and sunflowers.”

Minhyuk ponders for a bit, chews on his lower lip. On an opened page of the book is a drawing of an Angel’s trumpet, frail curly heads falling from a branch like tears, but inside the thin leaves runs poison strong enough to kill a human.

“What’s Hyungwon’s dark, then?” The question stumbles from his tongue hesitantly, and Minhyuk raises his hands as if to grab it back, but Changkyun only smiles and breathes out a little laugh. 

“Well, he’s got me, doesn’t he?”

The prince looks at Changkyun with surprise. Although he was scared of him at first – he did slither on his stomach in a snake form, after all – but beside that he is just… a boy. His hair is fluffy, and his stomach is soft, and in the sharp corners of his eyes there are twinkles of mirth, like stars in the night sky. When he smiles, his mouth curls, not unlike a little reptile he can turn into, and his nose is big enough to sport a loving smooch, just like a snout of a large-large dog he greeted Minhyuk as for the first time.

“You don’t look... dark,” the prince mumbles and looks down at the book again. His cheeks are starting to burn, so hurries to turn over the page. “Woah, what’s this then? Is it edible?”

He doesn’t notice the way Changkyun's lips curve in a light smile. “This is belladonna. Its seeds are commonly mistaken for berries, but you have to beware – it’s better not to eat anything in the forest without checking what it is first.”

They go over a few more plants before they hear something rustling in the woods behind Changkyun. A long linen-clad leg steps out of the shade first, and then the rest of Hyungwon falls out into the sunlight.

Minhyuk might have imagined it, but he swears he saw Changkyun’s ears perk up at the familiar huff. 

“Ah, Prince Minhyuk!” Hyungwon exclaims and smiles, teeth on display, and maybe Minhyuk’s ears perk up too. There are strings of tiny blue forget-me-nots and violet rockcresses in his long curls, fluttering with every step he takes.

“Hello!” His voice comes out thin and high, as if his throat clogged up with strange excitement he doesn’t want to explain just yet. “I, uh,” he gets up when Hyungwon approaches them, a basket full of flowers and other herbs hanging from his arm, “I just came by because I was given this book to study, it’s all plants and complex language, so I was hoping you could,” he swallows as Hyungwon stands in front of him face-to-face, a soft smile stretching his lips. Unknowingly, Minhyuk starts playing with his fingers. “But it’s all right, Changkyun has been helping me a lot, I now know exactly what to use if I ever want to poison my enemy – if such is present, of course.”

Hearing the prince ramble, Hyungwon only smiles wider. “I’m glad you’ve decided to come to us, Prince Minhyuk.” They stare at each other for a little longer, Minhyuk stunned and Hyungwon admiring the light blush that paints his sunken cheeks. “I was out in the field collecting flowers and picking up some ingredients for the cough remedy, there is still some left in the carriage.” Receiving absolutely no response from the prince, Hyungwon slowly raises his eyebrows and continues. “Would you,” he stretches, prompting the other to listen, “like to come with me and help me carry them here?”

Then Minhyuk flinches, as if he’s been roughly kicked out of his daydream. “Sure, of course!”

Hyungwon chuckles. He bends down to put a basket on the ground and gently pinch Changkyun’s cheek. “Can you start without me? I’ll be back soon.”

Changkyun nods at him, and then Hyungwon does something that strikes Minhyuk right to the core of his very being.

With a little endeared smile, Hyungwon kisses Changkyun on the lips, light and soft but audible, smoochy, and Minhyuk is paralysed. Changkyun crinkles his eyes and nose in a mockingly fond smile as a response and turns to the basket without another reaction, not a blush, not a shudder, not a yelp. Hyungwon ruffles his hair and straightens again.

“Shall we?”

Minhyuk only manages a tiny nod, mouth open in a perfect ‘o’. Hyungwon turns around and happily marches towards the woods, the prince belatedly waddling behind him. 

“So,” Minhyuk timidly starts, pushing another branch out of his face. He is terribly confused. “What did you do that for?”

Hyungwon turns around, blinking at him. Despite a rather fluffy chunk of hair covering his forehead (and most of his very small face), Minhyuk definitely sees his arched eyebrows slowly quirking up. “Kissing?”

The prince did not expect the word to come out of the other boy’s mouth so suddenly, and his rosy cheeks give him away with all his embarrassment. But he is royalty, after all, so he clears his throat, fixes the collar of his impeccable shirt and continues walking forward. “Yes.”

Hyungwon smiles, joining the determinedly marching prince by his side. Their shoulders almost brush past each other. “Because I love him.”

Minhyuk hopes Hyungwon didn’t see the way his eyes widen for a moment at the revelation, but he quickly manages to get himself together. “Ah.”

There is love floating in enchanted air. Of course there is. There is magic, and beauty, and fairies, and strange shape-shifting creatures with sparkly eyes and cute noses, and charming boys with flowers in their bouncy hair, and of course there is love too, there has to be love in an enchanting place like that. 

This is great. It’s great. Great.

A second-long silence slips between them as Hyungwon smiles sneakily and bends his neck just enough to catch Minhyuk’s eyes. 

“I can kiss you too, if you like.”

Involuntarily and unexpectedly even to himself, Minhyuk yelps and flinches away. “No, no, no, it’s all right, it’s all fine, I’m,” Minhyuk, in panic, looks at a very gleeful Hyungwon, his full cheeks and twinkling eyes and long curls that just tickle over his shoulders, and swallows, “fine.”

“We are nearly there, the carriage is just behind those woods,” Hyungwon says instead and hops further along their path. 

Just behind those woods is another sun-lit meadow. The grass is sprinkled with white and rosy buds, little faes and other creatures in the distance work the earth and dust the air in giggles, tiny huts cower somewhere in the shaded corners. There is life in the forest, life not dissimilar to the bustling back in the Kingdom, life Minhyuk has not yet seen. 

While he is busy gaping at the scenery, Hyungwon lifts two baskets from a carriage Minhyuk didn’t even notice at first. Hyungwon grunts as he flings one of them over his shoulder. 

“Here, Prince Minhyuk,” he says and huffs. His fringe bounces off his forehead and slowly falls back into place.

The prince wakes up and scurries to help the other boy. They carry four baskets back to Hyungwon’s little clearing in the woods. It is a strange thing to do – labour, but Minhyuk somehow doesn’t mind, and he is rather pleased to see the way Hyungwon beams at his eager self. Two trips later, and they empty the last basket into the tall pile of flowers with victorious exhales. 

“Thank you very much indeed, Prince Minhyuk,” Hyungwon says, smiling as usual. Changkyun, now in the form of a spotty little gecko, jumps into the pile from the height of Hyungwon’s shoulder with a silent squeal. A few petals glide into the air as he disappears among the flowers.

“No problem at all, glad I could be of help,” Minhyuk pouts and looks down, fiddling with the loose end of his belt. “I don’t often get to be very useful in the Kingdom,” he mumbles.

Suddenly, there are big warm palms on his cheeks, squishing his face so his lips swirl into a tube. It doesn’t immediately strike Minhyuk as offensive that a forest creature is doing things to him no peasant can ever to a royal figure because Hyungwon looks at him with too much fondness for Minhyuk to handle. “You are always welcome here.”

But it’s not like Minhyuk is particularly keen on keeping his status as a prince. 

Hyungwon’s eyes are warm despite Minhyuk’s ridiculously squished cheeks, too warm, scarily warm. The kind of warm that makes the prince close his eyes because the other boy is close, too close, abstracting Minhyuk from the rest of the world with his very, very pretty face and thick curls that just strive to tickle the prince’s nose. Minhyuk crinkles his eyes and prepares himself for the unknown.

But the unknown that happens is simply a light kiss on his forehead, chaste and soft and childish and still burning through right to Minhyuk’s skull. He carefully opens his eyes to see Hyungwon gently smiling at him, fond, as if the prince were his very own forest creature.

“Come to see us soon, Prince Minhyuk,” he says quietly and lets go of Minhyuk’s face.

Minhyuk bids his farewells in a form of fervent nods.


	3. The Fae Prince

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi this is the shortest chap but!! we're approaching my fav so pls bare with me n enjoy som more maleficent mãgiquê

Prince Minhyuk has found himself to be rather fond of the Enchanted Forest. The more time he spends together with Hyungwon and Changkyun (whom he lovingly refers to as his ‘forest creatures’), the more intrigued he becomes. 

Hyungwon possesses inhuman beauty, a gift of nature, a blessing of magic, and he was a mystery Minhyuk’s hands itched to unravel. Changkyun, although terrifically witchy, is a rather simple boy. He loves what’s around him, and he loves Hyungwon, and he definitely doesn’t mind Minhyuk, and his twinkly eyes always say more than his mouth that takes on various shapes of animals. 

Week by week, Minhyuk finds it harder to hold himself back from fixing a flower in Hyungwon’s bouncy curls. He freezes when the boy speaks, melts when he ruffles his hair (he touches a royal like he is a peasant! And Minhyuk doesn’t mind it!), and most of all, his heartbeat picks up every time Hyungwon smiles. Both of them do.

Week by week, he finds it harder to resist Changkyun’s timid nuzzling, loves it when the wolf rubs his fur on him, or when the kitten paws at his shoulders, or when the snake wraps around his neck like a scarf and hisses amicably into his face. Sometimes he turns into a bat and jumps from tree to tree, plucks a mysterious fruit and throws it into Minhyuk’s face as if he were a child. 

He doesn’t mind. 

Minhyuk finds himself utterly and endlessly endeared by his forest creatures. With all their mysteries and all their quirks. 

Today, however, Minhyuk finally discovers what he’s been burning to prove true. 

“Oi, Prince Minhyuk!” Hyungwon shouts as soon as the boy stumbles into the clearing. Minhyuk waves over his head with a huge smile, slightly bouncing on his feet. Changkyun copies him. 

“Hello! Anything interesting today?” Minhyuk shouts across the clearing. The two boys are unusually at the far end of it, by the little pond where the weeping willows caress the pristine waters and the sun shyly hides behind the woods, only casting its rays on the bushy peaks of tall trees. 

Hyungwon smiles with a hint of mischief. “Very!”

As Minhyuk approaches, Hyungwon’s smile grows. He is sprung up like a scallion, his shoulders raised with unconcealed excitement and his eyes glinting, glimmering. Gleeful. “I want to show you something,” Hyungwon says as calm as he can, despite the overjoyed giggle that can’t wait to burst out of his mouth. 

“What is it?” Minhyuk unconsciously bounces on his feet, the other boys’ excitement passing onto him contagiously. 

Hyungwon straightens his shoulders, standing even taller than he actually is, and exhales. Then he does something unimaginable, something Minhyuk never thought he’d live to see. A sharp whoosh, and––

Minhyuk gasps.

––Hyungwon unfurls his wings. Big, black and feathery, magnificent wings spread behind him, worrying the leaves of the surrounding woods and ruffling the boys’ hair. A curved claw adorns the peak of each wing. 

A vision from a fairy tale.

Hyungwon’s eyes twinkle with anticipation of his reaction. He stands there, beautiful and tall, fluffy curls swaying with every light movement of the miraculous wings. Minhyuk has to twist his head from side to side to encompass them in all their glory in his sight.

“They’re beautiful,” he exhales, astonished, dumbfounded, enamoured. When Hyungwon smiles, his canine teeth seem sharper than usual as they barely graze his bottom lip. 

And with an unexpected blow of the summer breeze, a clear realisation glides into Minhyuk’s head. Darting rays of sun crawl up Hyungwon’s figure and rim his body and wings in golden lining, play in his hair, seep through his white tunic, glint on the very edge of the sharp wing claws. When the sun retrieves its tickling beams back into the woods, Hyungwon is still shining.

“So you are the Fae Prince,” Minhyuk breathes out, and strange joy and relief settle in his chest. The boy born of human and fae, the boy conceived and nurtured and raised by pure love, the boy for whom the faerie nation had laid its countless lives to protect, the boy who was prophesied to rise and raise the kingdom back on its feet, has never been just a myth. 

And he is standing right in front of Minhyuk with an extended hand. 

“Fancy a ride?”

Minhyuk blinks up at him, still as astonished, dumbfounded, enamoured. “What peculiar tongue are you speaking, Your Highness?” He can’t help a little teasing at the end, to which Hyungwon only laughs, his shoulders jerking and wings fluttering.

“Please, Prince Minhyuk, I am neither a royal, nor a candidate for a throne,” he chuckles. “I don’t even have a castle to begin with.” Then he extends his hand again, his lips curl with a gentle smile. “But I do have something better. Would you like to fly with me?”

There is so much sincerity in Hyungwon’s voice that even if Minhyuk was afraid of heights (which he wasn’t), he still wouldn’t be able to refuse. And so he takes the offered hand in his and steps closer.

“What about Changkyun?” He turns to the boy who’s been calmly standing aside, observing Minhyuk’s reaction with a little grin. 

“You needn’t worry, Prince Minhyuk,” Hyungwon begins, and before Minhyuk can even say anything, Changkyun springs up, and with a jump, turns into a mighty raven. The big black bird caws and settles on Hyungwon’s shoulder. “He trusts his magic just a tiny bit more than me,” Hyungwon whispers with a soft playful grimace.

Then Minhyuk frowns. “Indeed, how are you going to carry me in the air?”

Hyungwon’s eyebrows quirk impishly. “No need to worry, Prince Minhyuk.” With that, he pulls a long piece of grey silk fabric out of nowhere, taking the end with one hand and tugging it with the other, demonstrating its strength. “We take all the safety measures needed for a stress-free and delightful trip into the sky.” Minhyuk eyes the fabric warily, unsure of what it is meant to do. “And if it accidentally breaks, Changkyun will turn into a phoenix and catch you,” Hyungwon finishes with a cheerful smile. 

All Minhyuk can do is weakly smile back and nod.

Turns out, the only safety precaution they have to take is tie the silk fabric around Hyungwon and Minhyuk’s stomachs, and off they go. 

“That’s it?” the prince asks suspiciously. 

“Of course,” Hyungwon replies, and before Minhyuk can object, there are arms wrapping around his ribcage and pressing him close-close-close to the thin chest of the other boy.

“Wait––”

But Hyungwon bends his knees and with an abrupt jump, soars into the sky. 

Minhyuk yelps in fear when the ground underneath his bare feet disappears, when there are leaves hitting his face and blunt fingertips digging under his armpits. His heart drops to his stomach, he shouts, shouts as they pass the treetops and dive into the blue above, shouts as Hyungwon’s massive wings flap with a low heavy sound, shouts as they dash into the clouds. The wind is slapping his cheeks, his eyes water, his feet turn numb, and Minhyuk screams louder. 

Then suddenly, all the sounds disappear. Hyungwon slows down and lies flat in the empty air. Minhyuk squeals at the abrupt change of positions and shuts his eyes. But nothing happens; Hyungwon’s heart is still beating out a stable rhythm into his back, his hands are still holding him across his chest, and the harsh air turns into light sugary breeze. They calmly glide through the sky. 

“Open your eyes,” Hyungwon says into his ear. Slowly, Minhyuk does.

Before him, the earth stretches for miles and miles in every direction. Right under his dangling legs the Enchanted Forest is no more than a canvas of green and brown. The lake is a puddle on a rainy day, and the Kingdom is a toy village Minhyuk built when he was a child. The vast and mighty land turns miniscule and peaceful, the land Minhyuk can now cross with just a mere flutter of Hyungwon’s wings. 

Well, it might take more than that but Minhyuk is not too inclined to make accurate calculations when he is flying. 

He is _flying._

And next to him, Changkyun in the form of a raven is soaring too, showing them the way. Minhyuk smiles from ear to ear, unable to contain his disbelief and awe.

“This is amazing!” He exclaims and laughs out of pure joy. _This is amazing._

“I promised you a delightful adventure, didn’t I?” Hyungwon calls out from above, his voice just barely reaching through the stream of whistling wind. They speed up. 

They fly all over their little country. Minhyuk hollers when he recognises tiny fairy houses on the edge of the forest field. They float above the ruins of the old Fae Kingdom, Minhyuk gapes at the remains of grandiose statues that once adorned the castle all around; at a garden full of thorns and vines and moss; at a tall waterfall running right where the towers were once standing. 

Hyungwon pilots them between peculiar cliffs, bearded with wild grass and rare trees. Minhyuk screams again as they fall down only to laugh when his feet dip into the cold virgin water of the lake. Changkyun dives in, and then a silver sailfish glows underneath the surface, rushing ahead the boys. Minhyuk bursts out in wonder. Not for a second has he ever stopped marvelling at the bizarre pair of forest creatures faith has brought him to.

They flutter along a flower field, ruffle the pink buds, leaving a trace of bowed down stems. Golden pollen floats into the air, sticks to Hyungwon’s wings and their hair, tickles Minhyuk’s feet. The prince giggles and extends one hand to the side. Flowers fall into his palm, and by the time they soar back into the sky, Minhyuk has gathered a whole bushy bouquet.

But all fun things have to end at one point or another, and when Hyungwon grows tired, they fly back where they came from. He gently eases them on the ground, Minhyuk’s feet landing on the soft familiar grass without a sound. Changkyun spawns out of nowhere, jumping down with a loud thud. He comes to untie the two boys from each other.

Minhyuk’s heart is still thrashing in his chest from euphoria.

“Thank you so much,” he says to both of them, disbelief still lacing his voice. “This was… the best thing to ever happen to me.”

Hyungwon smiles tenderly at him, Changkyun – with a hint of pride. With a flutter of Hyungwon’s wings, Minhyuk trembles and blooms from the inside. They fold back under the boy’s skin, and Minhyuk’s chest feels like bursting. 

_Why did you do it?_ he recalls asking.

He ponders for a moment, redirecting the question at himself. 

_Because I love him,_ Hyungwon said back then.

And Minhyuk ponders these words too, Hyungwon’s voice smoothly melting into his own and chanting the same phrase over and over as his eyes run back and forth between the two boys.

The prince straightens and reaches for Hyungwon’s face. He doesn’t manage to close his eyes when he feels himself leaning in and lightly-lightly, like a feather, kissing Hyungwon’s lips. His heart thrashes when he steps back, his mind blanks out, and it’s like his body turns to Changkyun completely on its own. He leans down and kisses Changkyun too.

Because he loves them, that’s what his heart is telling him.

“Thank you for everything,” he squeals, twists around on shaky legs and storms off, leaving the two creatures gaping after him.

They pout in unison, a little upset. The stubborn prince didn’t even give them a chance to bid farewells with their own warm kisses.


	4. Pristine Waters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my favourite chapter :DD

At night, the Enchanted Forest glows. At night, pixies hide in their flowers and beam in blue and purple dreams. At night, moths scatter around and float in the navy air like tiny stars. At night, the moon peeks over the trees at a little woodland pond where Hyungwon and Changkyun bathe before sleep. 

It’s framed in solid silver rocks. Boughs of willows gently brush over them, and sleeping grass caresses their eroded edges. And the water – the water gleams like the moon above, pure and blue like topaz gems. Limpid, like glass. 

Hyungwon and Changkyun lean on the rocks by the other side of the pond, enveloped by the water from chest down. They relax in silence, eyes closed, rare flicking of cicadas the only thing breaking it. 

But suddenly, there is a rustle in the distance, familiar scurrying feet cracking fallen branches and tangling in tall bushes. Hyungwon opens his eyes and straightens. Between the willows he sees nothing but darkness, so he walks to the other edge of the pond, water gently swishing behind him.

Loud panting resounds from the dark clearing, heavy boots stump the sleeping grass, something clunks, something metallic. Hyungwon peers, and soon Prince Minhyuk steps out the shadows. The blue glow of the waters falls on his clothes, thick and ragged and covered in dirt. He takes another step forward, and the light illuminates his face, his worried glinting eyes and bitten lips and dirty cheeks. 

Hyungwon slowly approaches the edge of the pond. “What happened, Prince Minhyuk?” He asks, concern curving in his eyebrows. His fringe is brushed back.

Minhyuk sniffs, stabilises his breath. Sadness swells inside him, but he tries not to cry. “I was sword training, but the General told me I wasn’t good enough, so I tried to fight him, but,” he exhales, his shoulders slumping weakly. “I was angry, so I ran away.” He balls his hands into fists and breathes out again, a little despaired but relieved now that he was far away from the castle. 

Hyungwon smiles softly at him. Changkyun materialises next to the boy in the pond, studies Minhyuk for a few seconds and gets out of the water in nothing but his skin. The familiarity of such a situation immediately puts Minhyuk at ease, although gentle blush still creeps up his cheeks at the sight. 

Changkyun always acts silently, speaking not with words but with his actions. He takes the sheath of Minhyuk’s sword and detaches it from his belt, observes it for a little while and then drops it on the ground. He squats down to untie the prince’s shoes.

Surprised at the creature’s actions, Minhyuk looks up at Hyungwon with wide eyes, confused pout growing on his lips. Hyungwon only smiles and puts his hands on the flat rocks. He lifts himself out of the water. Naked.

And Minhyuk shouldn’t blush the way he does at the sight, his heart shouldn’t pick up the pace when Hyungwon straightens and spreads his shoulders, his bony chest and gentle lines on his stomach and long-long legs shouldn’t make Minhyuk swallow and nervously bite on the inside of his lip.

They shouldn't, but they do, and when Hyungwon stands in front of him, Minhyuk is paralysed, stunned, breathless. Crystal drops of water twinkle on his skin, his long hair is wet and straight and falls on his shoulders, trickling down his torso. 

Minhyuk forces himself to look up. 

“Come now, my prince,” Hyungwon says softly, and Minhyuk’s heart trembles at the nickname. My prince. Hyungwon’s hand reaches for Minhyuk’s cheek and brushes over a smudge of dirt with his thumb. “Let’s wash you and make you feel better.”

Hyungwon’s prince. Changkyun’s prince.

Changkyun carefully eases the boots off his feet and reaches for his belt, still squatting on the ground. Hyungwon’s fingers crawl under his jacket and slide it off his shoulders. It falls on the ground with a quiet rustle. And Minhyuk can’t find it in himself to resist, he doesn’t want to resist; he is only a little scared about getting undressed by someone other than his servants, but it doesn’t matter, it shouldn’t matter because it’s Hyungwon and Changkyun, his peculiar forest creatures, his friends, his… loved ones. 

He only slightly shivers when his shirt bares his torso, and his trousers and braies pool at his feet. Hyungwon’s takes his hand in his. 

“Come with us,” he guides him out of the pile of his clothes, and he is beautiful and tender like a nymph Minhyuk read about in books. 

Changkyun doesn’t get to his feet – instead, a green water snake quickly-quickly slithers to the pond and disappears, rising again as the boy a second later on the other side of the pool. 

Hyungwon squeezes Minhyuk’s palm reassuringly and slowly leads him towards the pond. Hyungwon gracefully steps down and turns around, still holding the prince’s hand. Minhyuk awkwardly tries to cover himself and sits down, dips one leg into the water. Hyungwon nods, soft smile still playing on his lips. 

Minhyuk follows his lead – can’t _not_ follow his lead – his vision is reduced to Hyungwon’s back glowing in blue and his hair tickling his shoulder blades, lean muscles around his spine shifting in accordance with his every step, and invisible wings hiding under his glistening skin. Hyungwon brings him to the other end of the pool, where Changkyun is half-submerged into the water, eyes closed, face tranquil as if he were asleep, hair sticking to his forehead and his lids. 

“You can sit down, my prince,” Hyungwon says. The rocks under the surface are shaped like chairs, a little rough but not uncomfortable. Hyungwon stands in front of him, and their knees barely touch. Changkyun presses a palm to his lower back, pours water over his shoulders where his skin is dry. This makes Minhyuk shiver, every sudden sensation like a stroke of lightning to his body. 

Hyungwon’s hands have always been frail, long and scarily slender, but when he presses his palm to Minhyuk’s cheek and carefully washes away a smudge of dirt on the round bone, Minhyuk feels like they are the hands of an emperor, a man capable of ruling a Kingdom of his own, a man capable of enamouring the prince, His Highness himself, and dragging him into his swamp like a wretched alligator. 

Or perhaps it was Changkyun that casted a spell on him first. Changkyun, whose eagle claws ripped his heart out of his chest, Changkyun, whose serpentine venom filled it with love and hopelessness and numbed it to the rest of the world outside the Forest. Changkyun, whose vulpine jaws ripped his organs into million bloody pieces and swallowed every single shred, afterwards patting his belly with a shameless feline smile.

Whichever way Minhyuk wants to describe it, he means one thing. He is painfully and recklessly in love with the two boys who will never find their rightful place in his Kingdom. 

Sometimes he believes Hyungwon and Changkyun can read his mind. Because the second his eyes gleam with unconfined emotions, Hyungwon brings his second palm to his cheek and holds his face with all the gentleness his regal hands possess; because the second his shoulders slump, Changkyun wraps his arm around his waist and brings him just a little bit closer.

And Hyungwon is closer too, too close, scarily close, leaning down, leaning in, breathing over him, breathing into him. This time Minhyuk closes his eyes. Closes his eyes and lets Hyungwon’s lips cover his.

_In a kiss._

In a kiss that raises butterflies in Minhyuk’s stomach and steals his breath, in a kiss that burns his cheeks and twists something deep within him with an unfamiliar feeling of need. Hyungwon’s lips are soft and full and damp, gifting him a tender touch and nothing beyond that. If only he knew the strength with which emotions storm in Minhyuk’s chest, if only he felt the flutters of his imaginary wings and shared the heavenly relief that washes over him. If only he kissed a little tighter to reassure Minhyuk in his requited affection. 

And sometimes he believes Hyungwon and Changkyun can read his mind, because the next second Hyungwon does – kisses him tighter, louder, wetter. Tastes his top lip, tastes his bottom lip, moves in tune to Minhyuk’s own tentative explorations and sets the pace. 

Through the haze, he feels the second pair of lips pressing to his shoulder, his neck, under his ear. Minhyuk breathes harder, shivers slithering down his back at the sensations. He is melting, turning into goo, mellow and malleable, and he only vaguely registers being moved onto Changkyun’s lap. It doesn’t bother him, his naked buttocks on the other boy’s bare legs, it doesn’t bother him, his harsh breathing and untamed urges for more, for Hyungwon’s thick bottom lip between his teeth and the tip of his tongue meeting with his. 

When Hyungwon lets go, Minhyuk doesn’t have time to miss his touch because Changkyun turns his head towards him and kisses him instead. It’s strong from the start. Passionate, warm, open-mouthed, nothing like what Minhyuk has experienced before. Changkyun is burning, heated despite the cooling drops of water on his skin, as if his heart is beating for hundreds of animals hiding within him. 

They kiss, and snakes slither and knot inside Minhyuk’s stomach, turn his insides to liquid and make them churn. Hyungwon’s mouth attaches to the side of his neck, travels along his jugular, dampen lips and wet tongue pleasingly cold and warm at the same time. He bites lightly, Minhyuk hums into Changkyun’s kiss. Hyungwon marks him, marks the _prince_ himself, and Minhyuk is more than pleased to realise that they have claimed him as their own; claimed him as part of their Enchanted Forest. 

When they separate, Hyungwon’s fingers grab Changkyun’s chin and pull him towards himself. He lays his mouth on his with incredible familiarity, lets Changkyun’s thin lips wrap around his fuller ones, and they kiss in one fluid melody, like honey dribbling from a spoon. Minhyuk looks at them from the side, but he is close, extremely close, and he hears all the little sounds and quiet exhales they make, and he sees easy moves of their dancing tongues every time they open up just a bit wider. 

And it makes the prince want for magic he’s never experienced before. 

They switch again, Changkyun’s mouth and hands collect drops of water off his skin, and Hyungwon catches Minhyuk’s lips, immediately indulging him in heated affection, stealing his hums and frail exhales, connecting and parting with delicate noises. 

Hyungwon kisses him in a way that makes Minhyuk keen, need, desire. He’s never desired before, never wanted to connect with someone on such a physical level, and yet here he is, back pressed against Changkyun’s chest and knees capturing Hyungwon’s legs between his. But Hyungwon is too tall standing, Minhyuk needs him closer, closer than before, closer than ever, so he braves and traps the boy’s face between his palms, bringing him _into_ himself. 

His fingers tangle in long strands, scratch Hyungwon’s scalp, one hand brushing through the hair on the back of his head and the other digging into the crown, cradling him ––

 _Ouch._

Minhyuk’s lips stop moving but his hands stay where they are. Hyungwon’s breath is still ghosting over his mouth, and Minhyuk can feel, softly-softly, the way his lips curl into a smile. The prince’s hand hovers over the other boy’s head, still trembling with emotions, and carefully touches the top of his head. His fingertips stroke upwards, towards his forehead. Suddenly, they bump into something solid. 

The prince backs away to look at Hyungwon. Slowly, his eyes travel up, into the hairline, above the hairline, where flattened black hair hide ––

“You have horns?” Minhyuk exhales incredulously. 

Hyungwon smiles. “I do.”

“Since when?” The prince can’t quite believe his eyes. All these meetings, all this closeness, and it’s because of the ridiculously fluffy tousle of hair and bushy flowers around it that Minhyuk only now learns the most peculiar thing about the faerie boy. 

“Since forever,” Hyungwon replies, chuckling silently. “They like to hide.”

Changkyun’s lips finally detach from the crook of his neck. Minhyuk reaches for the second horn, brushing out the wet locks around it. He traces the hard surface, little ridges leading all the way to the sharp peaks. They are small, no more than two inches long, but they are thick and slightly curved to the side. “Will they grow?” Minhyuk asks. 

Hyungwon shrugs. “They are supposed to, if I’m lucky.” He closes his eyes, and he looks pleased, happy with the careful caresses on his horns. He unconsciously nuzzles into Minhyuk’s hands, and that makes Minhyuk smile with the most adoration he’s ever had. One boy he loves has horns and can fly. The other… is not even fully human.

The water ripples as Changkyun lightly shuffles behind him. “I was made out of a moth,” he says casually, and when Minhyuk abruptly turns his head around to face him, Changkyun’s expression is blank, not a hint of amusement, meaning he is not entertaining the prince with a joke. 

And Minhyuk is overwhelmed, wonderstruck, enchanted. One hand sliding to Hyungwon’s cheek and the other capturing Changkyun’s face, he looks back and forth between the most odd and fascinating creatures he was blessed to meet.

“I love you boys,” he says in a spur of a moment, on a height of emotions. 

And they kiss in lieu of words, or like an old storyteller would say, seal the deal with a true love’s kiss. 

Minhyuk doesn’t bid his usual farewells until very morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so from now on the next two chaps will come out slower bc ive been busy and also a bit of an idiot but ill try to finish them soon okay(((

**Author's Note:**

> next chap is up soon)))))
> 
> hope you enjoyed!! for every manifestation of your enjoyment one flower crown is snatched from hyungwons hands and weaved for him
> 
> i’m on twt @chaeleggiewon


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